'Pak Daily Changes Tack On Kashmir, Militants'

7 February 2011The Hindustan TimesPeerzada Ashiq

Srinagar: In a major shift in editorial policy over Kashmir, the widely read Pakistani newspaper The Daily Times on Monday said 'India giving up Kashmir is a pipedream' and dubbed militants, it once hailed as freedom fighters, spoilers and terrorists. An editorial - 'Territorial solidarity for Kashmir' - written after Pakistan observed 'Kashmir Solidarity Day' on February 5, also said: 'It was a bit disconcerting to see President Asif Ali Zardari asking India to give up the disputed territory of Kashmir.' On militants, the editorial read: 'Pakistan-based jihadi groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hizbul Mujahideen weakened the genuine case of the Kashmiris due to their terrorist activities during the 80s and the 90s.' It added jihadist groups not only drove out Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu but also alienated many Kashmiri Muslims. The daily claimed support to 'the Kashmir cause' in Pakistan was limited to certain areas and neither Pakistan nor India 'are willing to contemplate an independent Kashmir'.